Bloomberg
By Alisa Odenheimer and James Nash
February 12, 2014 9:21 PM Six decades of providing water in a country that's 60 percent desert have made Israel a technological leader in the field, a model that points the way for drought-stricken California.

Desalination of sea water, reuse of treated sewage for agriculture, software creating an early-warning system for leaks, computerized drip irrigation and careful accounting of every drop have become the norm in Israel, the world's 40thbiggest economy. Officials in California, which would be the10th largest if it were a nation, are paying attention.

North of San Diego, Israel's IDE Technologies Ltd. Is helping to build what it says will be the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The facility, when finished in 2016, will be able to provide 50 million gallons of potable water a day. Three smaller plants already operate in California, and 15 more have been proposed.

"This is the one supply that San Diego County is investing in that is truly drought-proof," said Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of privately held Poseidon Resources Corp., which is developing the $922 million plant with IDE. "It does cost more, but it has some reliability benefits that are very important to the regional economy."

More from Bloomberg.com: MIT Mistakenly Tells Some Applicants They've Been Admitted
‘Exceptional' Drought
About two-thirds of California, home to 38 million people ,is gripped by "extreme" or "exceptional" drought, the mos tsevere conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website. Ten percent of the state -- all in the San Joaquin Valley -- is considered exceptionally dry, according to the website, which was updated Feb. 4, before light to moderate rains fell on much of California. It's the state's most severe drought since at least 1977, according to Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, which serves19 million residents of southern California.

Israel has been dealing with such conditions throughout its history. Last month was the driest January on record in a large part of the Jewish state. The climate has forced the country to go to unusual lengths to lower consumption and raise supply, methods it now uses as a matter of routine.

More from Bloomberg.com: Apple Said to Plan TV Box Amid Time Warner Cable Talks

In Israel, desalination now provides about one-quarter of the country's water supply. Each of IDE's three plants in Israel provides roughly double the output anticipated from the facility in Carlsbad, California, MacLaggan said by telephone.
Gap Closing
"We don't have enough water from nature," says Avraham Tenne, head of the Desalination Division at Israel's Water Authority, based in Tel Aviv. "But we are now able to close the gap between the water that nature has given us, and the demand for water. With a touch of a button, we can produce 600 million cubic meters of water."

Desalination, with its relatively high energy consumption and its environmental impact, wasn't the first step that Israel took on its way to increasing supply. It shouldn't be California's either, says Katalyn Voss, a water policy fellow at the University of California's Center for Hydrologic Modeling, based in Irvine.

In reverse-osmosis desalination, the most popular method, seawater is pre-treated before being sent through a series of filtration membranes that remove salt and other impurities. About half of the seawater becomes drinking water. The rest is returned to the ocean with higher concentrations of salt and other minerals. IDE says the brine will blend with ocean water to an untraceable level within 150 feet from the discharge point.
Environmental Concerns
Environmentalists and regulators such as the California Coastal Commission have expressed concern that fish larvae, eggs and invertebrates are killed as plants suck in water from the ocean, and that briny and chemically treated outflow also harms marine life.

Because of the expense and environmental concerns, desalination should be considered in California only after other measures are exhausted, Voss said. These include recycling and careful accounting of both ground and surface water, including limitations on the right of landowners to use their groundwater, she said.

"For the immediate first steps, why not go with the less expensive option, and the solutions that we know will work, and will be pretty quick to implement, will be less costly energy-wise, less costly from the environment perspective?" Voss said.

In Israel, 75 percent of the country's sewage is recycled, the highest percentage in the world, according to Mekorot, Israel's national water company. More than 50 percent of water used in agriculture comes from treated sewage, said Avraham Israeli, head of the Israel Water Association. Medjool dates grown in Israel with recycled wastewater are among the most coveted in U.S. food stores.
‘Ick' Factor
Sewage from the 2 million residents in the greater Tel Aviv area is recycled and used to irrigate crops in the south of the country, Israeli said. The water is treated to a level that it can be used for all types of crops, he said.

"Imagine if the water from Los Angeles was treated and used for agriculture," Israeli said. "This is a source for a huge amount of water that can be used for irrigation, and frees up regular water." 50 million gallons of potable a day !! Imagine 20 of those plants built in Cali--that's a billion gallons a day of potable water and the ocean supply is free and almost limitless!! How soon before the bamscum finds a way to shut this down like he has other American ventures that solve great problems here? If he does he will likely use the EPA TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK AS HE HAS BEFORE MANY TIMES ALREADY. This technology is easily applicable and we have the ability to use it to great advantage. However solving the Cali water supply crisis would not allow it to be used as a warning of the dire results of the scam called global warming. I can see where bampunk and crew wouldn't like to see that solution.-Tyr

aboutime

02-13-2014, 10:41 PM

Nearly ALL Navy, and civilian cruise ships today have the same capability.

They are able to make/convert sea water into fresh/drinking/potable water for engineering, drinking, cooking, and even sanitation (showers/dishwashing).
It is expensive, but the science has become a more stable, reliable method of creating FRESH water.

Obama can try to stop it. But that would be like CUTTING OFF HIS OWN NOSE to spite his face.
Something he is very good at doing for ALL AMERICANS.

DragonStryk72

02-14-2014, 05:09 AM

Why would he bother with it? It's not really on his plate at the moment, since he's got all those other promises he made to botch or ignore.

Tyr-Ziu Saxnot

02-14-2014, 09:04 AM

Why would he bother with it? It's not really on his plate at the moment, since he's got all those other promises he made to botch or ignore. He could chose to bother because that state being in a water crisis serves to boost the global warming crowd's cry of disaster and calamity while screaming for more power grabbing legislation and Executive fiat. Remember he was taught to use every crisis be it real , imagined or even created purposely to be used. --Tyr.

Tyr-Ziu Saxnot

02-15-2014, 08:55 AM

Why would he bother with it? It's not really on his plate at the moment, since he's got all those other promises he made to botch or ignore. As noted before here is why . -Tyr

LOS BANOS, California (Reuters) - President Barack Obama toured parts of California's drought zone on Friday and pledged to speed help to the No. 1 farm state, but he said harsh weather in the United States will get worse until more steps are taken to address climate change.

California is coming off its driest year on record and a recent winter storm did little to dull the impact of the drought in the state that produces half the country's fruits and vegetables. A recent drought monitor said 91.6 percent of the state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought.

Obama walked past a below-normal canal in a dusty field that would otherwise be producing asparagus and organic melons. In remarks after the tour and during an earlier roundtable, the message was sober: California, usually bountiful, is facing a challenging year.

"Anybody in this state can tell you California is living through some of its driest years in a century," he said, standing with Governor Jerry Brown.

Since California is the biggest U.S. agricultural producer, he said, "What happens here matters to every working American right down to the cost of food you put on your table."

Obama announced plans to make available within 60 days up to $100 million in aid to help California farmers who lost livestock because of drought conditions. For livestock producers across the country, about $1 billion will be available.

The assistance was contained in a $956 billion farm bill that Congress passed and that he signed last week. Separately, the administration said it plans new funding to address climate change.

At a meeting of the state's top water officials in Sacramento on Friday the mood was grim, despite the welcome news that federal aid was on the way.

Water resources secretary John Laird called the drought a catastrophe that had not been mitigated by recent rains in the state.

Job losses among farm workers were expected to be so acute that $60 million of the federal assistance was expected to be used to shore up food banks.

"This is a disaster that crosses over into employment and food," he said.

Laird said the state was moving quickly to help the communities most affected by the dry conditions, sending low-security prison inmates to lay pipe in the parched town of Willits to improve access to water.

"We can't make it rain, but we're sending water where we need it the most, saving what we can and asking everyone to conserve," Laird said.

Obama said the federal government will help California as it adjusts policies to conserve more water. But he said it will take a lasting effort over the long haul to combat carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

"We have to be clear: a changing climate means that weather-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms, floods are potentially going to be costlier and they're going to be harsher," he said.

Droughts have existed for eons, he said, "but scientific evidence shows that a changing climate is going to make them more intense... Unless and until we do more to combat carbon pollution that causes climate change, this trend is going to get worse."

Given congressional gridlock over the issue, Obama might be building a case to impose some measures this year against climate change via executive order, part of an effort to take action where he can with or without congressional approval.

Beyond California's drought, Obama's 2015 budget proposal, expected in March, will include $1 billion to help communities prepare for climate change, the White House said.

The so-called Climate Resilience Fund will pay for research on climate change and fund technologies and infrastructure to blunt its impact.
Right on cue. Did I call that one or not? :laugh:-Tyr